I am very proud of the way they never quit and kept coming back. Winning by 10 when they were down mid-way through the 4th was very impressive. Especially where they were and who they were playing - KG or not.

Have to keep doing the intangibles - limiting TO's, making free throws, and such.

crazy. It seems like not playing AI is the solution. If AI doesn't play, the Pistons will become champs or what?

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Let's not get carried away. AI is a superstar, a sure fire Hall of Famer and an all around swell guy.

Gimmicks like sharing the ball and playing defense might make a difference in some meaningless categories like winning, but the Pistons need to realize that their focus should be on making sure AI can continue being AI and is happy.

Is Bynum a "true" point or is it only because of his size? After the first 5 minutes you could see BOS extend and get up on DET's guards and we were back to "old" DET rushing shots against the clock. If they had a real point to get them set up it would help them a lot.

Two game win streak. So what Boston was minus a few players. We still had to make some shots, take care of the ball, and play some solid D. They still had Pierce, and Glen Davis started nailing his midrangers on us.

I see someone mentioned we played some good defense out there. We sure did, when JMAX was in the game without Herrmann. Herrmann, despite the points he got for us, was minus 10 for the game. Nobody else on the team was near as bad, so he can't blame anyone except himself for his non-existent defense. Anyone notice we put Herrmann on a guard - what a joke. He can't guard Pierce, how more ugly can you get - so we have him do the impossible, chase someone around even quicker. Yes, glad he made the shots, but his presence in the game did nothing but make it harder for us to win.

Man, I see so much negative about JMAX, and yet, we won this game clearly in the two stretches where he was in there without Herrmann to jack up our defense. A nice positve run to end the 3rd quarter, and a nice finish to the game. And JMAX contributed a couple of made free throws and an offensive rebound putback in crunch time to go along with his usual stellar defensive rotating.

Dyess had five fouls when he came out for the end of the game. So, sorry Curry, I am going to have to call it luck that we won the game. Would you have taken Dyess out if he did not pick up that 5th foul? The game was won with some solid defensive play there by the combination of JMAX and Sheed, a pairing of players that has consistently performed great for three years now. So why can't you just see to go to it automatically instead of by accident?

Rip did great, lots of assists and solid shooting. Even 6 rebounds. Tay shot well enough and pulled down lots of boards. Sheed made a couple of threes, played inside well - and played great defense.

Amir did not play. But hey, he is every bit as good as JMAX. We could have toasted this Boston team if we had one of JMAX and Amir thruout the game to keep that kind of defense up.

Afflalo only played at the end of the game for a defensive play. So this is the first time we won all season where he did not get 2nd quarter minutes. And two games in a row, if you count the last one where he only had a few minutes in the 2nd quarter.

Bynum did well. He shows minus for the game, because he was paired with Herrmann, who can't play a lick of defense. Bynum himself did well on scoring and playing D. (And was part of the nice fee throwing)

No AI, still injured. Sharpe dressed but did not play.

Stuckey had a so so game. I'd call it decent at least if he had made those two free throws he missed in crunch time. But hey, for the game, he and the rest of the team got to the line plenty, pretty much winning the game at the free throw line.

Dyess hit a shot in crunch time. He shows minus one for the game, but its not because he was paired with Sheed this time - as Boston actually started two pretty beefy bigs and the matchup was not that bad. Bad mind you, but not terrible. Dyess was another victim have being in their while Herrmann was in the game. (And yes, there were times for sure when the Dyess / Sheed pairing represented zero helpout D at the hoop. Anyone remember that play in the 3rd quarter where Pierce got past Tay on the perimeter - nobody around, no one in a county mile, to back Tay up. That kind of thing stopped dead cold once JMAX came into the game for Dyess.)

Well, I am propped up on coffee at the moment. Fading fast. Need more caffeine. Lots of fun to watch a win.

To Mercury: Yes, since they did not play Allen, we could get away without using our best perimeter defender. No, the pairing of Dyess and Sheed still does not work, and in no way contributed to winning this game. It should be played a lot less, and no way Dyess should be starting. If Curry does not like Amir starting, then do what a whole lot of fans wanted at the beginning of this season, start JMAX.

One last thing, we executed well down the stretch, getting and making open 3's, by Prince then Rip while running the whole clock out on them. (But we did have the oops, an 8 second violation, partially caused by Stuckey getting kicked or something like that.)

Is Bynum a "true" point or is it only because of his size? After the first 5 minutes you could see BOS extend and get up on DET's guards and we were back to "old" DET rushing shots against the clock. If they had a real point to get them set up it would help them a lot.

DET actually closed quarters today.

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Uhh??? We tanked at the end of the 1st quarter. Something to do with Herrmann not playing a lick of defense.

Yes, we did well to end the 3rd and 4th quarters, since both times we had a fine unit in. Something on the order of Stuckey, Rip, Tay, JMAX, Sheed - both times I think. Can't recall off the top of my head if Bynum came in for any of that. These runs actually won the game for us. If only Curry would look at reality, see what is actually winning games, and use it. Just keep hoping.

The Pistons controlled most of the game, only brief lapses at the end of the first and start of the 4th quarter did the Celtics get on any kind of runs. Other than that, the Pistons controlled the tempo of the game.

Tayshaun was complete invisible in this game, save that three pointer at the end that iced the game... that shot sent most of the Celtic fans to the exits. But Pierce really had his way with him the entire game... again.

Hamilton was the best player on the floor tonight... he did an excellent job of creating his own offense and when the defense doubled him coming off the screens he found Dyess and Prince for open 15 foot jumpers. He played stifling defense on Allen too.

Sheed was pretty much worthless, save a couple jumpers in the post and a couple threes. Kendrick Perkins pretty much had his way in the post with him (yeah Perkins!!) when they went to him. Sheed did have a couple nice blocks on that midget Davis.

Stuckey played a great first half with 8 points on a couple lay-ins and a couple mid range jumpers. Really wasn't part of the offense in the second half, but overall a solid performance.... totally rendered Rondo useless for the entire game after the first quarter. Will Bynum was really solid tonight in his 12 minutes... played great defense stripping Marbury a couple times. He went hard to the basket and drew fouls.

Herrmann provided a MAJOR spark in the first half, with a varitety of fading jumpers... kudos to him. Marbury played like the scrub that he is out there... 0 points, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 12 minutes... was repeatedly abused on the defensive end by Rip and Herrmann. I can't believe the Celtics actually wanted this guy... he's horrible.

Jason Maxiell was the X-Factor in this game... the 8 points, 3 rebounds doesn't even begin to tell the story on his game today. I'll give Curry credit for FINALLY making a good substitution. When Dyess left with his fourth foul at about 4:30 left in the game, the Pistons were down 88-89. With Max in there, the Pistons finished the game on a 17-6 run. This was sparked by Max's energy on defense, aggressively trapping those pick & rolls and forcing a few key turnovers. He also made all 6 of his free throws, which was a total shock lol.

Offensive execution down the stretch was just PERFECT, especially coming against the best defensive team in the NBA. Those two wide open threes the Pistons hit were a thing of beauty... that was Pistons basketball at its best!

Overall it was an OUTSTANDING game. Man that was fun... the building was pretty loud in spurts, especially early in the 4th when the Celtics made their run to take the lead. There were a lot of Piston fans at this game... we were well represented in Beantown. There were 3 Piston fans sitting in the row right in front of me, and a few more down further in my section. I also heard the "Deeetroit Basketball" chant a few times from the lower section (doubt the TV mics picked that up) and there were the usual Sheed chants as well. During half time at the concession stands, I walked past and high-fived a hot chick in a Rip Pistons jersey... no lies!! Hahaha, that was awesome!

The Pistons controlled most of the game, only brief lapses at the end of the first and start of the 4th quarter did the Celtics get on any kind of runs. Other than that, the Pistons controlled the tempo of the game.

Tayshaun was complete invisible in this game, save that three pointer at the end that iced the game... that shot sent most of the Celtic fans to the exits. But Pierce really had his way with him the entire game... again.

Hamilton was the best player on the floor tonight... he did an excellent job of creating his own offense and when the defense doubled him coming off the screens he found Dyess and Prince for open 15 foot jumpers. He played stifling defense on Allen too.

Sheed was pretty much worthless, save a couple jumpers in the post and a couple threes. Kendrick Perkins pretty much had his way in the post with him (yeah Perkins!!) when they went to him. Sheed did have a couple nice blocks on that midget Davis.

Stuckey played a great first half with 8 points on a couple lay-ins and a couple mid range jumpers. Really wasn't part of the offense in the second half, but overall a solid performance.... totally rendered Rondo useless for the entire game after the first quarter. Will Bynum was really solid tonight in his 12 minutes... played great defense stripping Marbury a couple times. He went hard to the basket and drew fouls.

Herrmann provided a MAJOR spark in the first half, with a varitety of fading jumpers... kudos to him. Marbury played like the scrub that he is out there... 0 points, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 12 minutes... was repeatedly abused on the defensive end by Rip and Herrmann. I can't believe the Celtics actually wanted this guy... he's horrible.

Jason Maxiell was the X-Factor in this game... the 8 points, 3 rebounds doesn't even begin to tell the story on his game today. I'll give Curry credit for FINALLY making a good substitution. When Dyess left with his fourth foul at about 4:30 left in the game, the Pistons were down 88-89. With Max in there, the Pistons finished the game on a 17-6 run. This was sparked by Max's energy on defense, aggressively trapping those pick & rolls and forcing a few key turnovers. He also made all 6 of his free throws, which was a total shock lol.

Offensive execution down the stretch was just PERFECT, especially coming against the best defensive team in the NBA. Those two wide open threes the Pistons hit were a thing of beauty... that was Pistons basketball at its best!

Overall it was an OUTSTANDING game. Man that was fun... the building was pretty loud in spurts, especially early in the 4th when the Celtics made their run to take the lead. There were a lot of Piston fans at this game... we were well represented in Beantown. There were 3 Piston fans sitting in the row right in front of me, and a few more down further in my section. I also heard the "Deeetroit Basketball" chant a few times from the lower section (doubt the TV mics picked that up) and there were the usual Sheed chants as well. During half time at the concession stands, I walked past and high-fived a hot chick in a Rip Pistons jersey... no lies!! Hahaha, that was awesome!

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I see you noted we played poorly to end the first quarter, and to start the 4th. But you did not notice Herrmann was in for both those stretches? - playing no defense. If you disagree, please do tell me of one defensive play Herrmann helped with?

Oh, and overall, very good writeup, thanks for your time in writing it.

Let's not get carried away. AI is a superstar, a sure fire Hall of Famer and an all around swell guy.

Gimmicks like sharing the ball and playing defense might make a difference in some meaningless categories like winning, but the Pistons need to realize that their focus should be on making sure AI can continue being AI and is happy.

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Hey, what can I say? I've wasted this season and the 12 previous ones. Now, I know better and hopefully, Allen will never darken The Palace again.

Uhh??? We tanked at the end of the 1st quarter. Something to do with Herrmann not playing a lick of defense.

Yes, we did well to end the 3rd and 4th quarters, since both times we had a fine unit in. Something on the order of Stuckey, Rip, Tay, JMAX, Sheed - both times I think. Can't recall off the top of my head if Bynum came in for any of that. These runs actually won the game for us. If only Curry would look at reality, see what is actually winning games, and use it. Just keep hoping.

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Yea, the end of the 1st quarter was bad. Herrmann got abused by Pierce a couple of times, but not in the 1st.

Tayshaun was complete invisible in this game, save that three pointer at the end that iced the game... that shot sent most of the Celtic fans to the exits. But Pierce really had his way with him the entire game... again.

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Tay often seems invisible, but you look at the box score at the end of the game:

I see you noted we played poorly to end the first quarter, and to start the 4th. But you did not notice Herrmann was in for both those stretches? - playing no defense. If you disagree, please do tell me of one defensive play Herrmann helped with?

Oh, and overall, very good writeup, thanks for your time in writing it.

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Yeah, his defense was pretty bad, but that shouldn't be shocking to anyone. His offensive output was nice (though you had better be able to score if they are gonna stick Marbury on ya).

Another thing I forgot to mention... Stuck really needs to work on his free throw shooting... he was just 2-5 today and he missed to crunch time free throws that thankfully didn't come back to nip them in the butt. Despite what Iverson may be telling him, he needs to PRACTICE.